In order to test his stargate,
Arkoss needed subjects to send beyond the portal. The stargate was still
defective and the human subjects were rejected by the stargate,
horribly transformed, altered in mind and body.
ARKOSS
Real Name: Arkoss
Identity/Class: Extradimensional technology & magic user (Hyborian Era)
Occupation: Extradimensional explorer and traveller, warlord, sorcerer, god
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Nakios
Enemies: Eria, Conan, Kariel, his rival, Vador, Ylina, the nation of Tahoria
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Fobes
Base of Operations: Pargas, Arzegia (Hyborian Era)
First Appearance: Conan il Conquistatore#2 (November, 1997)
Powers/Abilities: The exceptional hypnotic abilities and Arkoss' knowledge of extraterrestrial technology and science placed him, and his race, as gods among the Hyborian men. His race possessed longevity and his mental power let him hypnotize a strong mind in matter of seconds by only pronouncing a few words. Arkoss also possessed energy manipulation capabilities which he could use to shoot force blasts, burning rays and to create a solid energy blade (like a laser saber). He also had a superior mind, able to perform calculations of incredible complexity and to let him manage the extradimensional technology. Arkoss also knew black magic.
History: (Conan il Conquistatore#2 (fb)) - Arkoss belonged to a dimension different from Conan's.
He and his people were explorers with a technology that enabled them
to travel from dimension to dimension. Their love for knowledge and
discovery drove them to visit Earth-616 in an era when Atlantis was
still at a barbarian status.
At first they did not interfere with
humans, they only watched them, worshipped as gods, but when Arkoss and
one of the "gods" fell in love for the same human woman a war arose among them
all. They quarreled and fought as bad as humans and their war put the skies on fire.
Eventually only two of them survived: Arkoss and
his rival, though seriously wounded, and their stargate was damaged. They
couldn't go back home anymore.
Arkoss then wandered through the world, living thousands of years, learning dark magic arts to add them to his science, in order to rebuild the stargate. He was like a god among humans, but was bored and lonely, and wanted to return home.
(Conan il Conquistatore#2 (fb) - BTS) - Thousand of years after Atlantis' fall, in the Hyborian Era, Arkoss assumed the second identity of Fobes, became the tyrant ruler of Arzegia, and played two roles: the sorcerer and the king.
In order to test his stargate,
Arkoss needed subjects to send beyond the portal. The stargate was still
defective and the human subjects were rejected by the stargate,
horribly transformed, altered in mind and body.
As Fobes he brought war to the nation of Tahoria. The Tahorians were winning the war, attacking Pargas, capital of Arzegia, but Kariel, a powerful ally of Tahoria was slain in duel by Arkoss, and the Tahorian army was defeated. Rumors spread that a traitor was the cause.
Among his enemies Fobes could find all the subjects he needed for his experiments, but he also employed Arzegians. Fobes lied to Nakios, letting him believe that his woman, Ylina, had been killed by the Tahorians. Instead Arkoss used Ylina as a subject for his experiments with the portal. Nakios became a spy for Fobes, as leader of the underground opposition movement, while betraying them to Fobes.
(Conan il Conquistatore#2) - Nakios betrayed two assassins: Conan and Eria. Fobes imprisoned Conan but fell in love with Eria who resembled his lost love, cause of the gods' war.
With a simple enchantment the sorcerer forced Eria to fall in love with him and learnt that she was Kariel's lover, and wielded a sword, twin to Kariel's one. Then Arkoss forced Conan to drink a potion which empowered the Cimmerian for the Rite of Passage through the stargate. While the sorcerer was with Eria, Conan was freed by Nakios, then attacked Arkoss in his "Sancta Sanctorum". They stumbled into the stargate and succeeded! They found themselves on Arkoss' original world, a dead world in a dying universe, broken by Arkoss' people. Conan had been changed by the passage and had powers equal to Arkoss'. Using their energy-manipulating powers they battled for uncountable time; stars exploded in the sky until Conan stroke the killing blow. Arkoss died. The only remaining god of that universe was Conan, but a prophecy had told him that he would be a king, not a god, so he departed to become a man again.
Comments: Created by Ade Capone (writer), Andrea Bianchi Carnevale (pencils and inks), Francesco Meo (editor).
Arkoss didn't succeed in killing his rival, but killed his rival's son, shortly after he discovered that his own civilization had wiped out itself and its universe. A civilization whom he believed superior to the human one.
The first appearance was in an Italian comic published by Marvel Italia, as of today (Jul 28th, 2012) the story was never translated nor reprinted in the USA.
Profile by Spidermay.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Arkoss has no known connections to
Eria was a normal woman from Arzegia.
Eria's life changed when a stranger cavalier visited her village. Kariel and she fell in love, but he left for war and was killed by Arkoss. She dreamt of his death, dreams sent by Kariel's father, and took the decision to avenge Kariel and to kill Arkoss.
So she left for Arzegia, guided
by what she dreamt. She met Conan, convincing him to help her, and once
in Pargas they reached the inn of her dreams. There they met a beggar,
actually Kariel's father, who addressed them to Vador. Vador belonged to the underground opposers to Fobes' reign. Vador
brought them to Nakios, their leader.
Unfortunately Nakios was a traitor. Conan and Eria
were captured and Eria was enchanted by Arkoss, who fell in love with
her. Conan was freed by Nakios. Assaulting Arkoss in his Sancta
Sanctorum he broke the enchantment which enthralled Eria. Eria wielded her
sword against Arkoss but was mortally slashed by his energy sword.
While Arkoss and Conan fought beyond the stargate, Kariel's father
reached Eria and merged her soul to her sword. Eria died.
Months later Conan stuck Eria's sword, containing her soul, into the same rock where Kariel's father had stuck Kariel's sword, containing the warrior's soul. Singers chanted about "the Lovers' Swords" and their souls, joined and happy for the eternity.
--Conan il Conquistatore#2
Born in the Hyborian lands, Kariel was the son of an extradimensional "god", the rival of Arkoss, and a human female. His mixed breeding made him more powerful than a normal human. He also was long-lived.
When Kariel grew up to became a valiant and skilled warrior he wandered from land to land. He met Eria, the two became lovers and Kariel gave her a sword, which he told her he had created from the same metal core of his own sword. He taught Eria to fight with the sword.
The
two lovers had to marry but Tahoria invaded Arzegia and Kariel
left for the war, probably attracted by the presence of one of his
own race.
He challenged Arkoss in a duel, fighting tougher than
any man but was mortally wounded by the sorcerer, and abandoned there.
His father had followed him thanks to his powers and found him dying.
Using his powers he merged Kariel's soul to his sword, then stuck the
sword into a rock on the battlefield. Kariel's body was buried.
Months later Conan planted Eria's sword, containing her soul, into the same rock. Singers chanted about "the Lovers' Swords" and their souls, joined and happy for the eternity.
--Conan il Conquistatore#2
The rival of Arkoss had super-powers at the same level as Arkoss.
The "rival" was among the group of gods arriving through the stargate. Arkoss' woman left him to stay with the rival and this resulted in a war between the "gods" which burned the skies, killed all the other extradimensional "gods" and damaged the stargate.
Seriously wounded, the rival lost interest for life. His woman fled with his son, so he started a life as a wanderer and a beggar, still retaining his powers, watching his son's life from afar and letting Arkoss believe that he was dead.
Kariel's father saw him falling in love, and saw him killed at the hands of Arkoss. He sent dreams to Eria to let her know of Kariel's fate, and he took Kariel's soul and put it into his sword, and stuck it into a rock.
Still pushing Eria to revenge, he sent other dreams, guiding her to the inn where he met Conan and her. Unfortunately Eria was mortally wounded by Arkoss. So the "rival", with the last vestiges of his power, placed her soul into her sword and transported her body through the stargate. He was the only "god" remaining.
Months later Conan stuck Eria's sword, containing her soul into the same rock. Singers chanted about "the Lovers' Swords" and their souls, joined and happy for the eternity.
--Conan il Conquistatore#2
Nakios was a normal human of Pargas.
Nakios hated the Tahorian invaders
because he believed that they had slain his woman, Ylina. He made a
pact with Fobes, if he gave him the heads of the soldier who killed
Ylina he would become a spy among Fobes' enemies. Fobes accepted,
lying, because Ylina was one of the subjects horribly transformed when Fobes sent her through the stargate.
Nakios became a spy and leader of the underground
opposition. He betrayed many men, even suspecting what was their fate. He also
betrayed Conan and Eria, but one night, a dream sent by Kariel's father
unveiled the truth about Ylina. Nakios freed Conan and found Ylina in the dungeons.
Understanding his error he let her kill him.
--Conan il Conquistatore#2
Vador was a normal human from Pargas. He belonged to the underground opposition against Fobes and Arkoss.
He was the contact used by Conan and Eria to reach Nakios, but Vador didn't know that Nakios was a traitor.
--Conan il Conquistatore#2
Ylina was a woman from Pargas, mutated by the passage through the stargate. She was Nakios' lover.
Like many other "monsters" she was jailed in the dungeons.
It is unclear wether the transformation weakened her or not. The subjects were
deformed, scarred and gnarled. They probably ate human
flesh or each other just because they were not
sufficiently fed. They were kept alive probably for purposes of further
studies on the stargate's side effects.
Before the passage through the stargate, some of them
were enforced by a potion created by Arkoss. The passage mutated their
body and also their minds, because they seemed very much like zombies.
Ylina was freed by Nakios and killed him.
--Conan il Conquistatore#2
images: (without ads)
Conan il Conquistatore#2, p33, pan1 (Arkoss, main image)
Conan il Conquistatore#2, p32, pan4 (Fobes, head shot)
Conan il Conquistatore#2, p37, pan2 (the Stargate and the Sancta Sanctorum)
Conan il Conquistatore#2, p43, pan1 (Kariel and Eria)
Conan il Conquistatore#2, p22, pan1 (Eria, head shot)
Conan il Conquistatore#2, p54, pan2 (the rival)
Conan il Conquistatore#2, p47, pan2 (Nakios)
Conan il Conquistatore#2, p22, pan2 (Vador)
Conan il Conquistatore#2, p47, pan1 (Ylina)
Appearances:
Conan il Conquistatore#2 (November, 1997) - Ade Capone (writer), Andrea Bianchi Carnevale (artist), Francesco Meo (editor)
Last updated: 08/12/12
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